The general sales associate is a title used most commonly by workers who communicate with consumers and assist them on a regular basis. These staff can normally be seen in shops such as clothing stores, malls, and other retail stores. They often stock product racks, put price tags on products, and address customer questions. In addition, they can station in the different parts of the store like the cash register.
General sales associates serve as the public face of the stores. They should be really good at dealing with customer inquiries and must have an extensive knowledge of the products and services being offered, so it is very important to continuously learn and update their information. Aside from managing the store, they are also responsible for handling customer complaints while adhering to the company's policies.
Most employers require applicants to have basic qualifications like a high school diploma or equivalent. However, in some cases, current high school students may be hired for part-time positions. General sales associates typically have little to no experience or training. The average hourly pay for this position ranges from $8.37 to $11.15 depending on the size and years of experience in the field.
What is a General Sales Associate?
What Does a General Sales Associate Do
There are certain skills that many general sales associates have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, selling skills and customer-service skills.
How To Become a General Sales Associate
If you're interested in becoming a general sales associate, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 35.8% of general sales associates have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.2% of general sales associates have master's degrees. Even though some general sales associates have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
General Sales Associate Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of office assistant you might progress to a role such as executive assistant eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title operations manager.
Average Salary for a General Sales Associate
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most General Sales Associate Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active general sales associate jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where general sales associates earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of General Sales Associate Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 20,106 | $31,935 |
| 2 | Texas | 13,081 | $28,743 |
| 3 | Florida | 11,922 | $24,228 |
| 4 | New York | 10,753 | $31,865 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 8,642 | $30,845 |
| 6 | Illinois | 7,669 | $26,534 |
| 7 | Ohio | 7,341 | $27,227 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 6,918 | $24,006 |
| 9 | New Jersey | 6,664 | $30,076 |
| 10 | Georgia | 6,522 | $26,594 |
| 11 | Massachusetts | 5,964 | $32,481 |
| 12 | Virginia | 5,657 | $27,901 |
| 13 | Michigan | 5,623 | $28,353 |
| 14 | Tennessee | 4,329 | $26,098 |
| 15 | Indiana | 4,199 | $25,476 |
| 16 | Washington | 3,904 | $28,843 |
| 17 | Maryland | 3,884 | $28,529 |
| 18 | South Carolina | 3,437 | $25,568 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 3,365 | $28,895 |
| 20 | Missouri | 3,338 | $26,729 |
| 21 | Minnesota | 3,288 | $26,973 |
| 22 | Arizona | 3,201 | $29,189 |
| 23 | Colorado | 3,114 | $26,353 |
| 24 | Alabama | 2,970 | $26,495 |
| 25 | Connecticut | 2,523 | $30,871 |
| 26 | Oregon | 2,504 | $28,564 |
| 27 | Kentucky | 2,449 | $26,209 |
| 28 | Utah | 2,265 | $23,665 |
| 29 | Louisiana | 2,212 | $26,217 |
| 30 | Oklahoma | 1,876 | $26,403 |
| 31 | Iowa | 1,796 | $26,230 |
| 32 | New Hampshire | 1,694 | $32,324 |
| 33 | Kansas | 1,541 | $26,585 |
| 34 | Mississippi | 1,517 | $26,286 |
| 35 | Arkansas | 1,445 | $26,666 |
| 36 | Maine | 1,310 | $27,053 |
| 37 | West Virginia | 1,218 | $23,685 |
| 38 | Nebraska | 1,095 | $26,520 |
| 39 | Nevada | 1,094 | $28,530 |
| 40 | Idaho | 1,053 | $23,866 |
| 41 | Delaware | 975 | $26,837 |
| 42 | New Mexico | 959 | $27,527 |
| 43 | Rhode Island | 794 | $32,221 |
| 44 | North Dakota | 510 | $27,926 |
| 45 | Hawaii | 505 | $34,177 |
| 46 | Montana | 478 | $27,052 |
| 47 | South Dakota | 459 | $28,116 |
| 48 | Vermont | 434 | $32,517 |
| 49 | Wyoming | 314 | $27,098 |
| 50 | Alaska | 251 | $25,615 |
Top Skills For a General Sales Associate
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 15.2% of general sales associates listed pos on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and selling skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable General Sales Associate Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use General Sales Associate templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your General Sales Associate resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
General Sales Associate Demographics
General Sales Associate Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among general sales associates, 39.8% of them are women, while 60.2% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among general sales associates is White, which makes up 58.4% of all general sales associates.
- The most common foreign language among general sales associates is Spanish at 52.6%.
Online Courses For General Sales Associate That You May Like
1. Cold Calling for B2B Sales: How to Prospect over the Phone
B2B Sales Skill: How to Cold Call over the Phone with Purpose, Navigate through Gatekeepers and Set Client Meetings...
See More on Udemy2. Business Development & B2B Sales for Startups- Sales Valley
The Complete Startup Playbook for Business Development & B2B Sales to learn Lead Generation, Pitching, & Closing Deals...
See More on Udemy3. Customer Service, Customer Support, And Customer Experience
Customer service, customer support, and customer experience training. Loyal clients through world-class customer service...
See More on UdemyBest States For a General Sales Associate
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a general sales associate. The best states for people in this position are Hawaii, Vermont, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. General sales associates make the most in Hawaii with an average salary of $34,177. Whereas in Vermont and Massachusetts, they would average $32,517 and $32,481, respectively. While general sales associates would only make an average of $32,324 in New Hampshire, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New Hampshire
$32,324
Avg. Salary
2. Pennsylvania
$30,845
Avg. Salary
3. Rhode Island
$32,221
Avg. Salary
How Do General Sales Associate Rate Their Jobs?
Top General Sales Associate Employers
Most Common Employers For General Sales Associate
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nissin Brake Ohio | $36,578 | $17.59 | 19 |
| 2 | Target | $36,142 | $17.38 | 15 |
| 3 | Kroger | $32,341 | $15.55 | 14 |
| 4 | Meijer | $31,629 | $15.21 | 20 |
| 5 | The Home Depot | $31,585 | $15.19 | 67 |
| 6 | Sears Holdings | $31,519 | $15.15 | 16 |
| 7 | Shopko Optical | $31,501 | $15.14 | 37 |
| 8 | Macy's | $31,213 | $15.01 | 31 |
| 9 | Herbalife Nutrition | $31,032 | $14.92 | 15 |
| 10 | Walmart | $30,761 | $14.79 | 70 |
General Sales Associate Videos
